Meaning of the nameSônia

Sônia is a feminine name of Russian origin, a diminutive of Sofia, which comes from Greek and means 'wisdom'.

Meaning

“Russian diminutive form of Sofia, 'wisdom'”

Source: Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Sônia · Behind the Name: Sonya · Behind the Name: Sophia

People (2022): 323,710
Rank in Brazil: #84
Median age: 58 years
2010 Census: 355,219; people

Sônia in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Sônia, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1960s (116,211 people).

322,514 women 1,196 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Sônia is most common

States with the highest share of people named Sônia in the population, in the 2022 Census.

Rio de Janeiro 0.276%
São Paulo 0.218%
Minas Gerais 0.191%
Paraná 0.189%
Espírito Santo 0.184%

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	96,854	0.218%
Rio de Janeiro	44,338	0.276%
Minas Gerais	39,127	0.191%
Paraná	21,670	0.189%
Rio Grande do Sul	19,031	0.175%
Bahia	14,292	0.101%
Santa Catarina	12,725	0.167%
Goiás	9,724	0.138%
Pernambuco	9,675	0.107%
Espírito Santo	7,053	0.184%
Pará	6,933	0.085%
Mato Grosso do Sul	4,867	0.177%
Maranhão	4,675	0.069%
Mato Grosso	4,555	0.125%
Ceará	4,304	0.049%
Distrito Federal	3,530	0.125%
Paraíba	3,078	0.077%
Amazonas	2,787	0.071%
Rio Grande do Norte	2,667	0.081%
Alagoas	2,589	0.083%
Sergipe	2,182	0.099%
Rondônia	2,146	0.136%
Piauí	2,047	0.063%
Tocantins	1,343	0.089%
Amapá	594	0.081%
Acre	528	0.064%
Roraima	396	0.062%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Sônia

Wiktionary records Sônia as a borrowing from Russian Со́ня (Sónja), and the Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil (Dictionary of Names in Use in Brazil) describes it as a Russian diminutive of Sofiya, a variant of Sofia. Behind the Name gives Sonya as a Russian diminutive of Sophia, which means 'wisdom' in Greek. Sónia is the European spelling. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 323,710 people named Sônia, with a peak among those born in the 1960s. The Dicionário also records Sonnia and Sonya as spelling variants.

Sources

Wiktionary: Sônia · en.wiktionary.org · origin
Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Sônia · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · meaning
Behind the Name: Sonya · behindthename.com · meaning
Behind the Name: Sophia · behindthename.com · meaning

Questions about the name Sônia

What does the name Sônia mean?

Sônia means “Russian diminutive form of Sofia, 'wisdom'”, according to Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil and Behind the Name.

How many people are named Sônia in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 323,710 people with the first name Sônia, which ranks it number 84 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1960s.

Is Sônia a boy's or a girl's name?

Sônia is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 322,514 women and 1,196 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Sônia?

Sônia is a name of Slavic and Greek origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Sônia most common?

Proportionally, in Rio de Janeiro: 0.276% of the state's population is named Sônia (44,338 people), according to the 2022 Census.

Names that also mean wisdom

See all

More names of Slavic origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Sônia with a source. See the methodology.